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Voting in Oregon

All voting in Oregon is by mail. Ballots are due at the county elections office by 8pm on election day. Please keep in mind that postmarks do not count! However, there are ballot boxes in easy-to-find locations (like the Valley Library and the County Courthouse) and you may drop them off at any of these by the deadline and they will be counted.

In order to vote in an election in Oregon, you must be registered to vote 21 days before the election. If you have moved since the last election, you must update your registration. You can register online.

The Secretary of State is Oregon’s chief elections officer. Some of the things the website for this office provides are comprehensive election information to the public, including information on voting, campaign finance and candidates. Here you can also study the history of Oregon elections, find statistical data, and get the results of recent elections. The Office also publishes the state Voters' Pamphlet and distributes it to every household in Oregon, and also make it available here online so that all Oregonians have the opportunity to make informed decisions when voting.

Project Vote Smart - Enter your zip code or address to see a list of who's running in your district.

Oregon State Candidates: Politics1 Online Guide to Oregon - A directory of Oregon candidates for State Cabinet, United States Senator and Congress in the current election cycle; state political parties; state news sources. Does not include candidates for state legislature.

Issues & Debates

Presidential Debates

Text of debates for 1858, 1948, 1956, 1960, and every four years since 1976

Candidates On the Issues

Ballotpedia- Ballotpedia is a neutral online encyclopedia of American politics and elections.The site lists major Presidential candidates with candidates' positions on a variety of issues (domestic and foreign affairs, economy, education, environment, job creation, health care, national security, tax policy, etc.).

On the Issues - Extensive web site analyzing positions of all Presidential candidates as well as incumbent governors, senators and House members on a variety of campaign issues. Relies on their voting records but also includes position statements.

The Government Research Services division of the Oregon State Library has digitized a historic run of Oregon Voters' Pamphlets in the Oregon Voters' Pamphelt Project at http://library.state.or.us/databases/subjects/Voters_Pamphlet.php. Here you can browse individual issues or search across decades of Oregon's colorful elections history. (Primarily Marion County--while statewide measures are covered, local measures are largely missing from this resource for now.)

Campaign Finance

OpenSecrets.org - From the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) - An independent regulatory agency founded by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. Functions include: donor lookup; influence & lobbying; receipts and disbursements of Presidential and Congressional candidates. Search by candidate and year; then drill down to detail on individual contributors.

Project VoteSmart - Non-partisan and mostly volunteer organization. Includes Issue overview on Campaign Finance and Elections (both national and for individual states)

Comprehensive Election Websites

Ballotpedia - Ballotpedia a neutral online encyclopedia of American politics and elections. The site includes encyclopedia entries for local, state, and federal politics.

Project Vote Smart - Oregon State University was the first location of this non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization funded exclusively through individual contributions and philanthropic foundations. Now located in Montana, the organization website has sections on Elections & Candidates, Government & Officials, and Issues.

The Onion Politics - This satire site occasionally comes close enough to reality to fool even the mainstream media

For Educators

Civics Toolkitfrom the Oregon Secretary of State Office is an Oregon-centric guide to elections civics. The lesson plans target students ages 17 to 24. They cover everything from the history of voting in Oregon to what you need to know before you register to vote.

ICPSR Resources for Instructors includes exercises (modules) for classroom use on Voting Behavior in the 2012, 2008 and 2004 elections, and a Data-Driven Learning Guide on Voter Turnout in the U.S. These utilize statistical data sets (subscription database; while the modules are openly available, some of the data sets may only be available to the OSU community).